Capsule to contain powder preparation therein

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a capsule for containing powder preparation therein for making beverages using espresso machines of commercially available capsules.

Recently, there has been a great development in the area of hot beverage making machines for the residential market and beyond, that has accompanied the emergence of various powder preparation based beverages, soluble or not, these preparations being contained in individual capsules. The beverages are obtained by mixing high-pressure water with the contents of the capsule, usually powder or granules, which allows the attainment of a beverage from hot chocolate to a simple espresso coffee, according to the contents of the capsule.

The demand for greater simplicity for the user, as well as a better result of the beverage produced, or its appearance, has led companies to various technical solutions in what concerns the design and manufacture of these machines.

However, the majority of the solutions proposed in the past by the manufacturers consisted mainly in the development of the machine/capsule interface, which implies that the consumer, after purchasing a particular machine, can not choose the capsule of another manufacturer, since each manufacturer designs and manufactures its capsules specifically for the machines he produces. Some manufacturers have already started to produce capsules for different machines but often, even if in what concerns dimensions a given capsule could be used on different machines, the fact that the technical characteristics of the machine vary (e.g., water pressure) means that the quality of the drink obtained greatly varies within different machines.

Furthermore, while some machines have a mechanism that pierces the capsule, other machines use water pressure to burst it, which forces capsule manufacturers to have at least two substantially different types of capsules.

Another problem that arises presently is that the different beverages require different capsules for a particular result to be obtained in terms of final temperature, extracted product, consistency, foam, etc., which has led capsule manufacturers to develop, for each beverage, a specific type of capsules (e.g. a capsule for espresso coffee, a capsule for hot chocolate, another capsule for American coffee, etc.), which requires that a user, wishing to do at home several beverages, must have different machines according to the desired beverage, or must acquire a multifunctional one that produces one type of beverage (e.g. hot chocolate) with good results, while another type of beverage has only poor results (for example, express coffee).

The present invention seeks to solve the aforementioned problems by creating a capsule which is adaptable in a simple and economical way according to the beverage to be obtained, that ensures an excellent conditioning of the product contained in the capsule since it is completely sealed, that can be used both in machines where the capsule is mechanically perforated or is hydraulically opened, and that has a manufacturing cost substantially lower than the existing solutions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a general view of the capsule according to the invention

FIG. 2 shows a cross section of the capsule, enabling the view of some components inside

FIG. 3 shows a detail of the capsule, highlighting the film (3)

FIG. 4 shows some alternative embodiments of markings on the plastic face (3 b) of the film (3)

FIG. 5 shows a detail of the film (3) highlighting two faces (3 a) and (3 b)

FIG. 6 shows an alternative embodiment of the capsule without paper filter

DESCRIPTION OF THE MAIN COMPONENTS

1 Capsule 2 Housing 3 Composite film 3a aluminium foil face 3b pre-indented plastic film face 4a to 4f Examples of pre-indentation 5 Filter 6 Lid

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODE OF OPERATION

Typically, traditional capsules have several elements intended to maintain the tightness of the product contained therein, and simultaneously allowing the attainment of a beverage that has the desired results in terms of temperature, extracted product, amount of foam, density, etc.

In what espresso coffee is concerned, the time of contact between ground coffee and water, the pressure to which it is subjected inside the capsule, and the course the water travels along the capsule, significantly affect the attained result.

The state of the art of the capsules of soluble or not soluble beverage machines consists in that the tightness of the capsule is achieved by a film that is perforated only at the moment when the capsule is placed in a machine, an example of which is PAT N° EP 512 468.

However, this type of capsules works only on machines mechanically perforating the capsule and having, downstream of the capsule in the machine itself, an array of fluid flow channels with an extremely reduced diameter and intended to increase the contact time between water and product, as well as to create the much desired foam in beverages such as espresso. One of the major disadvantages of this system is that because of the extremely small diameter of these channels, this part of the machine tends to fail due to clogging by accumulation of small particles of limestone or ground coffee.

Patent WO03059778 attempts to solve the above mentioned problem by developing a capsule in which the film that maintains the airtightness of the capsule is not pierced mechanically, but instead by water pressure created by the machine. In this solution, it is the capsule itself that creates the route that the mixture water/product travels throughout the extraction, avoiding the deposition of product remains in the machine and increasing its lifetime. This solution has a major disadvantage compared to the previous one: the manufacturing cost of the capsule increases significantly. Furthermore, the configuration of the capsule, that determines the route that the water/product travels along it serves only for a given powder preparation, so that, in case of placing a different product in the capsule, one has to develop a capsule with a different configuration.

Ultimately, the array embedded in the capsule conditions the result obtained.

Given the described state of the art, with the development of this new capsule one tried to achieve a solution in which the capsule is completely sealed, that allows its use in machines with perforation through mechanical action or through machine produced pressure, and that allows the configuration of the route that the water should travel in a flexible and efficient way, and with low production costs.

The present capsule has a lid (6) that in the preferred embodiment is mechanically pierced by the machine, allowing the water to enter inside the capsule. The water will initially contact the powder preparation, traversing posteriorly the composite film (3) and being forced out through the face opposite do the lid (6).

However, even if the machine does not have any mechanical action on the lid (6), it is designed in a way that when subjected to a predetermined hydraulic pressure the lid (6) bursts in a controlled way, allowing the water to enter also in the capsule.

To solve the problem of tightness, the capsule is sealed in one of its faces with the lid (6), while on the other side it is sealed with a composite film (3) consisting in aluminium foil (3 a) and a plastic film (3 b). Unlike the examples given above, this film has a dual function: it ensures that the air does not contact with the product placed inside the capsule, and at the same time defines the route that the water/product should travel when preparing the extraction of the beverage.

Thus, in this new capsule, in addition to reducing the number of components in the capsule and hence its manufacturing costs, the plurality of product extraction channels, which in the state of the art only exist either on the machine or within the capsule itself, with a fixed and specific configuration of these channels, are engraved through an indentation directly on the film (3), with the predefined shape, dimensions and directions depending on the desired result, forming a pattern (4 a to 4 f) also chosen taking into account the type of capsule content or the machine in which it will be used.

The pre-indentation of the film is achieved through a process of laser engraving, allowing the thickness of the film (3) to be reduced to the desired dimension along the various elements of the chosen pattern, so that, when submitted to the water pressure, it can only burst through the intended spots and form the product flow channels having the desired dimensions, shapes and directions. This laser engraving is made exclusively on the plastic face (3 b) of the film, not damaging in any way the aluminium foil (3 a) that thus maintains its integrity throughout the engraving process, ensuring the complete tightness of the capsule.

In a preferred operation of this capsule, after its placement in the beverage extraction machine, the capsule is submitted to water pressure until the pressure inside the capsule bursts the film (3). This burst does not cause random destruction of the film. Rather, due to the pre-indentation made on the film (3), as the capsule is being subjected to an increasing water pressure, this film will break initially where the surface was mostly worn, and then along the entire pattern. This stepwise and progressively opening increases the product contact time with water inside the capsule and allows the water to sort at high speed, leading to the formation of foam and density of the desired beverage.

Thus, one of the great advantages of this capsule consists in exempting the manufacture of fixed channels within the body of the capsule itself, since these are pre-engraved on the composite film (3) on its plastic face. Therefore, as a whole, the composite film remains airtight and watertight. This film (3) airtightness brakes only when the capsule is subjected to the high pressures generated by traditional capsule machines.

This engraving process, besides being much more economical than the manufacture of capsules with traditional dies, allows different patterns to be produced quite easily (FIG. 4), thus enabling the manufacture of capsules appropriated for the product contained therein (from different batches of coffee, barley type mixtures, powdered chocolate, powdered milk, etc.) and the attainment of results with regard to the characteristics and appearance of each type of beverage type in particular.

In an alternative embodiment, the film (3) also works as a filter, the result of which is achieved due to the small size of the channels engraved on it. Thus, in this embodiment it is not necessary to place a film serving as filter (5) inside the capsule, the parts of the capsule being limited to the housing (2) and to the film, as can be seen in FIG. 6.

The engraving process developed for the pre-indentation of the composite film of plastic and aluminium consists in the wear of the film plastic face in a preferential range of 25% to 75% of the thickness thereof corresponding to the cutting depth of the plastic film between 0.015 and 0.045 microns.

The pattern printed on the film is the result of a detailed study concerning the coffee powder mixture that will be used in the capsule or other preparation (soluble or not) to be used. FIG. 4 shows some examples of different patterns depending on the type of preparation used in the capsule or on the desired results for the drink. These patterns, resulting from the pre-indentation of the composite film (3) are not only different in their geometrical shape and dimensions, but can also have different marking thicknesses of the plastic film (3 b).

After the pre-sealing indentation, tests are also carried out in order to verify that the aluminium face (3 a) of the film (3) was not damaged. 

1.-9. (canceled)
 10. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, capable of receiving a pressured liquid, comprising an external casing and a composite film inside, characterized by said composite film comprising at least two films of different materials, adjacent and superimposed, in which: film is capable of receiving various markers, previously indented, wherein said markers present at least four configuration types: different geometries with different thicknesses; different geometries with the same thicknesses; equal geometries with different thicknesses; bursting of film, when it is subject to a given pressure of the fluid, is undertaken by phases at markers, capable of defining flow channels with the desired size and orientation; bursting of the composite film, in the cases it presents thicknesses, starts at the film, essentially at the zones where the surface has been more worn, and successively along the whole pre-defined profile of wear; the bursting of film is initiated as a consequence of the bursting of film, at the same place which were previously subject to indentations of film.
 11. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, according to the claim 10, characterized by the maximizing of the characteristics and qualities of the powdered preparation resulting from crossing through the flow channels due to their specific geometry.
 12. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, according to claim 10, characterized by the film ensuring there is no contact between the outer atmosphere and the powdered preparation.
 13. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, according to claim 10, characterized by the markers in film having been previously made, using a laser indentation process.
 14. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, according to claim 13, characterized by the result of the marking process consisting of wearing the film at a preferential interval from 0.015 to 0.045 micron.
 15. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, according to claim 10, characterized by working both in devices with mechanical perforation and in devices subject to hydraulic pressure.
 16. A capsule for containing a powdered preparation, according to claim 1, the various indentation topographies used permitting to vary the extraction flow, the pressures, the contact time of the fluid and the preparation, the texture, density and presentation of the final product. 